There was information on the man George had blackmailed into fleecing Sir Charles over the Polish salt mine – an old school friend of Sir Charles’. But it was the details of the death of the student at Cambridge that Lou was drawn to.

The young man – Harry Riley – had spent an evening drinking heavily and playing cards with George and another student. It was while the third student went out to buy more whisky that a gunshot rang out from Riley’s room. At the time, it had been reported that without any kind of warning, Riley had taken a gun and shot himself in the head, dying instantly. There had been no suicide note.

A cutting reported the coroner’s inquest where George gave evidence. He said he had left Riley’s room for a few minutes to answer the call of nature. At the sound of the gunshot, he ran back to find Riley slumped over the table. He said that Riley had been behaving strangely for a number of weeks, and while he had been concerned by his friend’s behaviour, he had never imagined that he intended to take his own life. It was such a terrible shock, and he had been deeply traumatised by finding his friend in such a manner. The other man who had been playing cards – Ernest Simpson – corroborated George’s version of events and the fact that Riley had been behaving strangely.

The coroner recorded a verdict of suicide, and with that, the sad case had been concluded. Until the journalist started digging around decades later. He had tracked down the third man, Ernest Simpson. By then in his seventies and with terminal prostate cancer, Simpson was happy to finally unburden himself of the truth he had carried since his teenage years. His new version of the events of that night were in stark contrast to George’s story, and the original evidence given to the coroner. It was true that there had been a game of cards, but George was no friend of Riley’s. According to Simpson, George Caxton owed Riley a considerable sum of money in gambling debts. It had been an ill-tempered evening with all three men drinking heavily, George more than the others. An argument had broken out when Riley threatened to go directly to George’s father to have him settle his son’s debts. It was shortly after that when George had sent Simpson out to buy more alcohol.

For all these years, I have known the truth about that night. Caxton shot poor Riley, Simpson was reported as having said to the journalist. Caxton came to my room after the police left and warned me off. He said if I didn’t want to end up like Riley, then I’d forget everything I’d seen and heard. I was more terrified of Caxton than I was of the law. I knew that if I went to the police and told them the truth, Caxton would go scot-free, and I would be left to face his retribution. You have no idea what that man is capable of. If I were not dying, I would never have dared tell you the truth, even now.